Monthly Archives: March 2013

Please bring back the Ranger pickup truck. Other companies still have small pickups in their line up and they are selling well. The Toyota Tacoma, the Chevy Colorado… What happened to the Ranger? They didn’t sell?Did you actually look at the Ranger? It looked like the front end of an Escort… it didn’t look like a truck. It looked like a little bitch trucklette. Now go look at the Tacoma and Colorado. The look cool. Look mean and threatening. That’s what guys want. Guys spend their money on Sex and Violence and the Ranger had none of that.
Here’s what you do. Draw a pissed off Ford Raptor. Shrink it a bit to Ranger size – but somewhat larger, because the Ranger was too damn small. Drop in your Ecoboost V-6 and give it some serious off road hardware. Give it a good diesel option. Give it a V-8 option with an optional 6 speed manual transmission. Paint it Murder Black.

Okay, now that you’ve done that – Make an SUV out of it, call it the new fucking Explorer and then Fire the asshole who made the 2012 “Explorer”. And then hire someone to kick his ass. And then apologize to America for making the Mother of SUV’s into a little bitch-wagon.

I’ve been a guest on Jimbo’s show a couple times now and it’s one of my very favorite radio shows to do next to Armed American Radio. Jim is a great host and it sure is fun talking with him and his callers.

As I said before, I have a Top 3 list of SUV’s. I’ve studied the current market in detail, and compared all the vehicles in this segment. I’ve dismissed the Cross-Utes out of hand as they are not true SUV’s. This does not mean that I’ve dismisses a Unibody construction, but vehicles bases on car platforms and then swollen into a taller hatchback. So here is my top 3, but not in any specific order.

Number 3: The Toyota 4Runner.

This is one of the last true Truck based SUV’s in it’s class. This is a real Body On Frame rig here, and that gives it some some advantages over the rest. Towing, off roading, and otherwise not being ever mistaken for a Girly-Ute. Just look at it… It looks pissed.
4.0 Liter V-6, 270 Horses, room for 5, and rolling 17 City/ 21 Highway.
While the 4Runner is under powered, it’s high degree of off roading chops give it an advantage. But it loses points for not being made in the US when Toyota is making other vehicles here.

Number 2. Dodge Durango.

The new Durangos look awesome. Aggressiveness personified. A lot of the stuff under the skin is actually Mercedes developed. This gives it some advantage over the older Durangos. In fact, the new Durango shares nothing more than the name with the older rigs. These are now unibody rigs, which is not a bad thing. Dont call them a cross-ute though, as the platform is shared with the Jeep Grand Cherokee. In fact, they are coming out of the same factory. Unlike the JGC, the Durango doesn’t pretend to be an Off-Road Warrior. These are build for streets, with occasional Soft-Roads. Most SUV’s live on pavement only anyways. I didn’t pay the new Durangos any mind because of this… at first. Then I saw one in person. A local LEO friend drives one now, and It is 100% Bad Ass. His is the R/T version. I really love the looks. It makes me question just how often I would go off road… the answer is probably more than the Durango would be comfortable with.

Number 1. Jeep Grand Cherokee

The new JGC is that guy you always hated… You know that guy, the one that is good looking with the trophy wife and everything always falls into place for him and he always wins everything… that guy. The JGC is that guy in automotive form. It does everything pretty damn well, and it looks great. The V6 version does good on gas too, for a vehicle in this class. The V-8 version can tow 7400 pounds…. enough to pull a Senator’s arrogance. And it can off-road very well. Not really Moab rock-crawling, but you can easily go trail exploring. The SRT version though, it goes around taking lunch money from sports cars… sports cars built in Italy. But the one I like the best is the upcoming diesel variant. That gives you over 700 miles range per tank. That’s amazing to me. The only problem I have with it, is I like the looks of it the least. And there are a million of them around town.

All three have solid good points. All three have downsides… well… except for the JGC. I’m still trying to find actual faults.

There has been some controversy in the Gun Community about Appendix Carry and a video that was posted by Gun Nuts.

The problem I have isn’t the position of the holster. You can Appendix Carry all you like. If the gun is in the holster, it’s fine. Drawing the gun from the holster, it’s fine. The problem comes from when you go to put the gun back in the holster. Too many people think it’s cool to reholster as fast as you unholster.

In what tactical situation do you ever need to put your gun away lightning fast? We see this usually just after whipping one’s head back and forth “scanning for threats”. This is where you need to take some time. Let’s think about this. You just had a kinetic situation. Your body is still in fight mode. Your blood is pumping like a Fire Engine and you are still amped up on Adrenaline. This is where you need to take a deep breath, let it out slowly… and then reholster… slowly. You need to take a second or two here. You may have caught a round and didn’t realize it.

A couple years ago now, we had an IDPA Shooter that failed to think. He was amped up on the stage, which is a hell of a lot less than the boost you’ll get from an actual shooting incident. He was using an XD, a very safe pistol. Until he reholstered with his finger on the trigger. No waiting to show clear or any procedurals were followed. He shot a string and then went to shove his gun in the holster. Finger was still on the trigger. The .40 cal projectile went down his leg and out with about as little damage as possible. He was lucky. What if he had been packing Appendix Carry? Ouch. Don’t even want to think about that. Other incidents like this have happened around the country. This wasn’t unique.

Never be in a hurry to reholster.

After shooting a target, come into a high compressed position with your finger off the trigger.
Scan the area for threats, and don’t take less than five seconds.
When the area is clear, take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Then slowly and carefully reholster your weapon safely.

I’ve been looking into the SUV market and I’ve grown fond of three of the new models available. The number 1 and 2 of my choices will be discussed in a future post. Number 3, I do like a lot, but it is under powered compared to the others, and well… every time I look at it… I think of Cylons.

We got in a brand new 336W from Marlin. The barrel is stamped Illion, NY, so there is no question this isn’t an older gun.
I was very impressed with the fit and finish of the gun. Its using a nicer laminated stock instead of birch, or whatever wood they used before. It looks nice. The stocks actually fit the gun, which is a first for many years now. It feels like a solid and well built gun, which was my hope when Remington bought Marlin.
The W gun though, is Remington/Marlin’s bargain gun. Its the lever action equivalent to the 870 Express. As solid as the others, but without the refinement. The finish, like the 870 Express, is a bead-blasted blued. Which means its not a finish but a fast and dirty process that is just “good enough” to get by. It looks matte, and can hold oil, if you bother to take care of it. If you don’t, it can rust if you look at it sideways.
Because of this, the finish isn’t well suited for harsh conditions. The surface however is very well suited for something else… Cerakote.
So here is the program:

Get a new Illion stamped 336W. They retail for only 399 bucks. Bargain rifle of the Century. Send it to Crusader Weaponry.
The stocks will be removed. The action disassembled. Sights removed.
The barreled action will be Cerakoted to any color you like, but Crusader’s Grey is a solid option for this. Magpul Flat Dark Earth is another good choice.
New sights will be installed. The XS Lever Rail. They are 150 bucks.
The Bolt will be Slipstreamed.
Option 1. The Lever will be debured/polished, and Slipstreamed on the inside portion, and Cerakoted on the outside portion.
Option 2. Wild West Guns big loop lever, polished, Slipstreamed, and Cerakoted. 150 bucks.
Bear-Proof Ejector is an option, as is the Trigger Happy Trigger… priced accordingly, of course.

The Sling Swivel studs on the W have a loop on them, but feel, because they are, cheap and unsatisfactory. We would recommend replacing them with standard studs for standard quick disconnect sling attachments. A third sling swivel stud can be added forward on the stock on and the side for another loop for a Single Point Sling.
The stock could also be Cerakoted same or contrasting color to help weatherproof the stock.

Reassembled and function tested.

Total Cost of this Harsh Conditions conversion would of course depend on options and time, but I’d imagine you would have a seriously kick ass Lever Action for a very reasonable price.